The Best Lookouts in the Seven Valleys

Wide Views and Quiet Places

If you like your scenery served up without too much effort, the Seven Valleys delivers. These valley’s are packed with lookouts that are expansive, where mountains rise and fall away, valleys stretch out and the sheer scale hits you the moment you step up to the edge.

Hassans Walls Lookout

Hassans Walls sits high above Lithgow and the Hartley Valley and is one of the most accessible lookouts in 7V. From here you can take in a wide sweep of the landscape, with distant peaks, layered ridgelines and farmland far below.

Hassans Walls Lookout is the highest scenic lookout at approximately 1,100 metres above sea level - higher than any lookouts in the Blue Mountains. Look out to Mount Wilson, Mount York, Mount Tarana and Mount Blaxland and the whole Hartley Valley below.

The Sir Joseph Cook boardwalk provides easy access to the magnificent 180 degree view, be sure to check out the small cave to the right. It’s only a small space inside, with an even smaller doorway leading to another jaw-dropping expanse (and protection from the chilly winds).

Bracey Lookout

Recently refreshed, Bracey Lookout offers a wide 180° sweep across the Lithgow valley. From the viewing platform you can trace the outline of the town below, look across to Blast Furnace Park and follow the rolling hills that frame the valley.

The lookout was first built in 1953 by John Bracey and a group of local volunteers, and it still feels like a place shaped by community effort. Picnic tables make it an easy stop, whether you’re there for a quick look or lunch with a view.

To get there, follow Hassans Walls Road from Lithgow into the Hassans Walls Reserve for 4.5kms then turn left onto Norm Henry Drive and follow for a further 2kms to Bracey Lookout.

Carne View lookout

Carne View Lookout sits out on the Newnes Plateau, reached only on foot and all the better for it. The track brings you to a wide opening above Carne Creek, where cliffs drop away and pagoda formations scatter across the valley below.

There’s no direct vehicle access. You can reach it as part of the 17.5km Broad Swamp to Birds Rock walk, or as a 7km return hike from Birds Rock carpark, which is accessible by 4WD. Either way, the effort keeps the lookout quiet. When you arrive, it’s just you, the wind across the ridge and the sweep of country stretching out in front of you.

Pearsons Lookout

Just south of Capertee village, Pearsons Lookout sits high above the valley edge, offering one of the clearest views into the vast sweep of the Capertee Valley. From the platform, the land falls away sharply to forested slopes and sandstone walls, with Pantoneys Crown rising boldly from the valley floor.

It’s a full 180° panorama. To the south, the ridgelines of Gardens of Stone and Wollemi stretch into the distance. Turn north and you’re looking toward Kandos and Rylstone, with the valley unfolding in layers of cliff and scrub below. The scale here is hard to grasp until you’re standing at the railing, watching shadows shift across the rock.

Pearsons Lookout is located on the eastern side of the Castlereagh Highway at the crest of a steep hill just south of Capertee. It’s easiest to access when travelling southbound, though a careful turn back is worthwhile if you’re heading north. A plaque at the lookout names the surrounding ranges and points out historic sites such as Glen Davis and Newnes, once centres of shale oil production.

Lost City Lookout

Just 400m from the car park near, Lost City Lookout opens onto one of the most distinctive views in the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area. From the edge, you look out over Marrangaroo Creek and across a scatter of layered sandstone formations known as pagodas, rising in tiers against the escarpment beyond.

Picnic tables sit close to the lookout, making it an easy place to pause and take it in. The path from the Lost City south car park follows a wide fire trail with a gentle downhill grade, reaching the lookout in under 10 minutes.

For those keen to explore further, the Lost City walking track begins here. The 6km return route loops through pagoda country, crossing creeks and passing old mining relics before returning to the lookout. Even if you stop at the edge, the view alone makes the short walk worthwhile.

Together, these lookouts show off the Seven Valleys at its best. Wide, rugged, and quietly impressive, they’re places to get away, look out and really take in where you are. Whether you’ve come for a short stop or to linger a little longer.